relaxation

Relaxation skills are designed to calm the migraine storm by changing the electrical and chemical signals received by nerve cells — kind of like moving storm clouds out of your brain to make a clear sky. Like the skill of playing a sport or instrument, relaxation requires frequent practice to work well.

Why should I care about relaxation?

Stress is your physical, mental, and emotional reaction to any change in your environment. In people with migraines, the brain is calibrated to react more strongly to these changes - this is why migraines can begin or get more severe with stress. Learning and practicing specific ways to control your body’s stress response therefore is one of the most important tools you can have for calming the migraine storm. Relaxation strategies such as diaphragmatic breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, and mental imagery relaxation can help transform how your body reacts to stress, as long as you practice on a regular basis. Relaxation strategies have been studied extensively for migraine and consistently have been shown to be beneficial for reducing headache frequency and severity.

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RELAXATION SCORE

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MIGRAINE RISK FROM RELAXATION SCORE

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Relaxed Breathing

Learning to breathe in a way that tells your brain “I’m relaxed” is a fairly simple yet powerful tool for calming the migraine storm. Pick one or more of the 4 breathing video choices to learn this technique. When the images in the videos tell you to breathe in, take a slow breath in through your nose and let your belly rise up a bit (like a balloon filling slowly with air). When the images in the videos tell you to breathe out, slowly breathe out through your mouth and let your belly fall back down. Repeat this several times. The videos are set for you to take 6-7 breaths per minute, which is the ideal pace for calming your mind and body. Breathing with your belly takes some getting used to but will get easier with practice. Try using this technique for 2 minutes every 1-2 hours during your day to help prevent migraines.

Note: the videos may take a few moments to load depending on the connection. To watch the video at full size, click on the ‘Full Screen’ option at the bottom right of the video. Be sure to have your computer speaker(s) on and unmuted when watching the videos.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation

One of the most well-researched techniques for preventing and improving headaches is Progressive Muscle Relaxation. This involves learning to relax your muscles through a two-step process. First, you increase tension to certain muscle groups so that you can easily recognize what tension feels like. Then, you stop the tension and focus on what those muscles feel like as the tension flows away.

With frequent practice, you learn to recognize the feelings of a tensed muscle and relaxed muscle. With this knowledge, you can create calmness and comfort in your body at will, no matter what is happening around you. By keeping your mind and body relatively calm and relaxed, you make it less likely you’ll have the “storm conditions” that can bring on a migraine.

This video guides you through the process for practicing progressive muscle relaxation. Sometimes on the first try people may think the exercise is odd or silly — it’s okay to have those thoughts and even laugh as you do the exercise but stick with it anyway. After practicing progressive muscle relaxation consistently, you will soon acquire a skill that can become an essential part of your daily life.

Note: the videos may take a few moments to load depending on the connection. To watch the video at full size, click on the ‘Full Screen’ option at the bottom right of the video. Be sure to have your computer speaker(s) on and unmuted when watching the videos.

Guided Imagery

Creating soothing images in your mind is a very powerful “calming the storm” tool. Your body responds to calming images in almost the same way it would respond if you were actually experiencing what you are imagining — particularly if you focus on all of your senses (hearing, sight, touch, smell, taste) when you create a scene in your mind’s eye. By imagining yourself in settings that you find enjoyable and calming, your body similarly experiences a lasting sense of soothing and calming and can help keep the migraine storm away.

In this video, we have provided just one example of using imagery for relaxation to help get you started (a tropical forest scene). Once you understand the general technique, you can then use whatever imagery you find most helpful to you. We encourage you to try out the exercise and continue to practice using imagery for relaxation on your own a few days each week, even if at first it seems awkward or unnatural. With practice, you will get better and better at creating a calm climate in your body whenever you wish it during your day.

Note: the videos may take a few moments to load depending on the connection. To watch the video at full size, click on the ‘Full Screen’ option at the bottom right of the video. Be sure to have your computer speaker(s) on and unmuted when watching the videos.

What's your excuse?

I can’t relax.

Yes you can. Some people may have more difficulty learning how to relax than others, but everyone has the ability to develop relaxation skills. The key is to make a habit of using relaxation skills — which means scheduling some time to practice until they become a natural part of your day. For some people, their bodies have become accustomed to physical arousal from stress — so that sitting still actually feels uncomfortable! If this is the case for you, start with “mini-relaxations” to begin with (e.g., slow breathing for just a minute a few times per day) or choose relaxation skills that require more movement (e.g., yoga).

I’m forgetful.

Set reminders on your phone or put reminders around your home (e.g., stick an adhesive dot on your bedroom door or sibling’s back) that will help you remember to practice a relaxation skill each time you see or hear the reminder.

I think relaxation is for the weak and weird.

Admittedly not all relaxation strategies are suited to everyone and some may seem weird to you. But relaxation IS suited to everyone — so find relaxation strategies that are suited to your personality. Even if you will always think practicing relaxation strategies is weird, then be weird — your health in part depends on your ability to keep your body’s stress response in check through using brain-calming strategies!

Relaxation doesn’t help my headaches.

Learning relaxation strategies may not instantly cure your headache, just like a medicine does not always instantly fix a headache or drinking more water won’t always result in eternal headache freedom. However, medicine is guaranteed to not work if you never take it — the same goes for relaxation strategies! Stick with making relaxation practice part of your daily routine; there really is little cost of doing so, and the benefit of calming migraine storm conditions can be priceless!

For additional information about relaxation and stress management, click here.